The next day, I had dressed according to Draco's instructions. I was wearing black trousers, a black top, a black knit jumper, a long black woollen coat as well as my high rise boots and a black scarf and beanie. I rolled my eyes at his mocking smirk, grabbing my wand. "Should I bring this?" He shrugged "I mean if it were up to me, I'd say bring it everywhere, all the time. You never know."

I nodded and waited for a few seconds while we were both standing still in my bedroom. "So uhm... What are we doing?" Draco extended his arm towards me so that I would grab it. "We're apparating." I nodded slowly, realisation dawning on me that we were about to teleport. "Do I need to do anything?" Draco chuckled inexplicably before shaking his head. "Not really. Just grab my arm. You will definitely feel nauseous. It's the case for both side-along apparition and first time apparition." I could feel myself scowling before muttering. "Great birthday gift, throwing up on you first thing in the morning."

Before I could add anything else, I felt like my body was being squeezed and twisted around in an absurd number of ways. When we had come back to what looked like our dimension, I thought I would finally know relief by stepping back into reality, a surge of nausea overcame me. I stepped away from Draco, breathing in some fresh air for a couple of seconds before turning back to him.

"Well you didn't lie. That was terrible." He gave me an understanding nod. "To be fair, you handled it pretty well. Better than I did the first time I apparated. Ended up throwing up on my father's shoes. Bad move, I'll tell you that." Draco always had a dark look on his face whenever he mentioned his father. I never asked about him though, feeling like it was an extremely sensitive subject. I had the feeling he had been subjected to abuse in his childhood, violence perhaps. But if he wasn't ready to tell me about it, I wouldn't ask. I knew too well what it felt like.

Like he'd sensed my mind running wild, he grabbed my hand before dragging me alongside him. "So, are you going to tell me where we're going at 6 in the morning?" Draco chuckled instead of replying and I gave him a confused look when he stopped abruptly. "You want to hop in the carriage" he said, pointing to what was indeed a small carriage. I was more interested by the sort of... weird goth winged horses pulling it.

Draco caught on my look and froze next to me. "You... You can see thestrals?" I shrugged before slowly approaching the emo fireless dragons. "Well duh, I'm not blind." His reply caught me off guard, stopping me dead in my tracks. "Only people who have witnessed a death can see them." I mouthed an "oh..." but didn't elaborate. It wasn't the time nor the place to have this conversation.

Draco seemed to read my mind as he opened the carriage door for me, completely disregarding the conversation we'd just had. "After you mi'Lady." I curtsied jokingly before stepping inside.

We were silent for what must had been like a few minutes, but felt like an hour. I was still feeling saddened by my encounter with thestrals and the memories that came with it. So I pushed those thoughts aside, completely shutting off this part of my brain, and gazed at the scenery out of the windows. We had to be in Scotland.

When a gigantic castle came into view, I turned towards Draco letting out an excited squeal. "Don't tell me you brought me to Hogwarts!" He shrugged while smirking devilishly "Okay then, I won't tell you."

_

The grounds of Hogwarts were humongous. I could barely believe my eyes at the size of the Black Lake, the Forbidden Forest, of the castle itself. We were silently making our way through the hallways and moving staircases, Draco's hand still wrapped tightly around mine.

"Are you sure we're allowed to be here?" I was seriously anxious at the thought of trespassing this place that had already known so much drama. Draco gave my hand a tight squeeze before replying. "We are, I sent a couple of owls." As we reached up a final flight of stairs, we stopped in front of a stone gargoyle. I sent a puzzled look to Draco when he spoke to it. "Draco Malfoy for Headmistress McGonagall please." As the gargoyle turned, it revealed a spiralling staircase which we climbed quickly.

As we entered the room at its' top, we were faced with a large room whose walls were filled by an absurd amount of moving portraits. A strict looking woman wearing a pointy hat and dark robes was waiting for us, raising her hand towards Draco then me for us to shake it.

"Well Draco, it is good to see you back here. Miss DesRosiers, it is a pleasure to meet you."